Delivering Ballots To The TroopsWhat follows is part of a 30 page report issued by the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) on how well they were able to deliver absentee ballots to the troops. What the report indicates is that they are able to deliver voted ballots from the troops back to county election headquarters with an average of 5.2 days. "92% of absentee ballots reached election offices within 7 days." The full document can be found at http://www.CountedAsCast.com/issues/mpsa/Mpsa2010Report.pdf (PDF) Military Postal Service AgencyThe 2010 Analysis Of The Military Postal System Compliance With The Move ActThe Military Postal Service Agency conducted an end of year analysis of the Military Postal System’s absentee ballot handling procedures and performance during the 2010 General Election. This assessment identifies methods utilized to ensure compliance with the FY 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, Subtitle H - Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE). Executive Summary(U) 2010 Postal Voting Assessment. Military Post Offices (MPOs) overseas postmarked and dispatched 27,827 voted absentee ballots to local election offices using Express Mail Military Service (EMMS). The overall transit average of ballots from MPOs to election offices was 5.2 days. Coordination between the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) and United States Postal Service (USPS) provided online tracking services to absentee voters and military postal activities. Nearly 50% of ballots received at overseas MPOs from election offices were undeliverable as addressed. Of the all ballots entering MPSA, 31% were redirected to new addresses on file while 19% of ballots were returned to sender. These results are primarily attributed to three factors: (1) High rate of reserve and National Guard units demobilizing, (2) DoD overseas addresses are not included in USPS automated redirection systems, (3) Election offices using outdated mailing information Absentee voters simply failed to update their mailing addresses following the 2008 election. Total postage paid by USPS for EMMS totaled $416,292.00. One time equipment purchase to support EMMS mailings totaled $1.265M. This equipment will be used to support future elections. Chapter 12010 Ballot Data & Analysis... NDAA 2010 Provisions... Requirements and Results... Ballot ProcessingThe Military Postal System (MPS) received 68,848 absentee ballots from local election offices, and dispatched 27,827 voted ballots returned to the states. Of the ballots dispatched 23,900 were tracked by MPSA and USPS tracking systems from origin to destination. Due to discrepancies in electronic data interchange (EDI) between MPSA and USPS systems, and/or employees failing to scan properly, transit data for 3,927 ballots was incomplete. This prevented MPSA from identifying complete transit time for 14% of voted ballots. As of January 16, 2011, USPS programmers have resolved EDI discrepancies between tracking systems. Figure 1 - Absentee Ballot StatisticsListed below in Figure 1 is a chart displaying absentee ballots processed through the Military Postal System for each service component from September 1 - November 24 2010. Of the 66,848 ballots received from CONUS, 30% were provided Directory Service and 19% were returned to sender due to insufficient addresses. These results are primarily attributed to three factors: (1) High rate of reserve and National Guard units demobilizing, (2) No centralized mail redirection system for DoD overseas addresses, (3) Election offices using outdated mailing information (4) Absentee voters failing to update their mailing addresses following the 2008 election. Figure 1
Figure 2 - Absentee Ballot Delivery Overseas from Sep 18 - Nov 24Listed below in figure 2, of the 66,848 ballots shipped by election offices, overseas MPOs received 7% of them 45 days prior to the election, and 71% were received 30 days prior. Average transit from USPS domestic post offices to overseas MPOs is 7-10 days, however remote MPOs require up to 21 days. Overseas MPOs continued to receive absentee ballots from election offices after the election date. Figure 2
Figure 3 - Absentee Ballot Transit TimeBetween September 1 and November 24, 2010, MPSA and USPS Tracking Systems captured verifiable transit from origin to destination for 23,900 ballots. Data analyzed for these ballots was used to calculate transit averages. The overall transit average was 5.2 days which is under the 7 day deadline directed by the MOVE Act. 92% of absentee ballots reached election offices within 7 days of acceptance at overseas MPOs. Ballots accepted aboard Navy ships were scanned upon reaching shore based postal activities. Their average transit of eight days is based on ballots scanned from ashore based MPOs to election offices. There were significant delays originating from the USCENTCOM area of operation (AO). MPSA anticipated challenges with moving ballots in many locations within this AO due to logistical limitations at remote forward operating bases. Therefore, there were remote locations with excessive transit of 20 days or more. MPSA requested USCENTCOM Postal leadership investigate into cause of delays and develop strategies to mitigate in the future. Figure 3 illustrates ballot transit time for the MPS. Figure 3
Nobody, and no machine, should be counting votes in secret.For further information, email Jim Soper at :
JimSoper2@yahoo.com
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